Exploring Reasons Why Men and Women Refrain from Sex Despite Desire

Sexual behavior has been found to be an unreliable referent for sexual desire. Numerous studies have found that sexual activity is motivated by a range of non-desire related factors, from the promotion of intimacy to the seeking of new experiences. Sexual desire may also be an unreliable predictor of sexual activity. There is a dearth of research, however, on the reasons why individuals choose not to have sex despite the presence of desire for a willing partner. The main aim of this study is to qualitatively investigate the reasons why people refrain from sex when they feel desire for a willing partner. A secondary aim is to investigate differences in the reasons generated depending on whether desire is defined amorphously, physiologically or subjectively. The ultimate aim for future study is the construction and validation of the Bigger Than Desire Questionnaire (BTDQ) that will serve as a quantitative investigation of these reasons. In order to truly understand the sexual desire-sexual activity relationship, it is important to understand both why people have sex without desire and why people refrain from having sex despite desire

Are Men Who Pay for Sex Sexist? Masculinity and Client Attitudes Toward Gender Role Equality in Different Prostitution Markets

Prostitution clients’ attitudes toward gender equality are important indicators of how masculinity relates to the demand for commercial sexual services. Research on male client misogyny has been inconclusive, and few studies compare men in different markets. Using an online survey of 519 clients of sexual services, we examine whether male client attitudes toward gender role equality are related to the main methods customers used to access prostitution services (i.e., through print or online media vs. in-person contact). We found no differences among men in these markets in attitudes toward gender role equality in the workplace and home. This is in a context where all clients had more egalitarian attitudes toward women’s roles than the U.S. male population in the General Social Survey (GSS). However, clients in in-person markets were less supportive of affirmative action than in online markets in a context where all clients were less supportive compared to the national average. These findings point to need to rethink how masculinity and gender role attitudes affect patterns of male demand for paid sex

Stigma Towards Sex Workers in the Clinical Setting: Sixteen Guidelines for Therapists to Improve Their Practice and Provide Ethical Mental Health Services to Sex Workers

This study qualitatively investigates therapists’ attitudes toward their clients who work in the sex industry and assesses sex workers’ perception of these attitudes in therapy. Two separate surveys are used to assess attitudes. One is distributed to mental health professionals, and it uses clinical vignettes to evaluate the approaches used in therapy where the variable of “profession” is manipulated. The second survey is distributed to sex workers to evaluate their experiences in therapy. Then, indicators of persistent attitudes in the narrative responses are identified, organized into groups, and surveys are compared. Results suggest that participants in the survey distributed to therapists generated some patterned unsupportive approaches used with the hypothetical sex worker client. In general, most sex workers who participated confirmed these perceived negative attitudes in their experiences of therapy. When the two surveys were compared, seven final categories were identified delineating the attitudes/approaches/issues commonly present in the clinical setting with clients who work in the sex industry. These categories are: 1) Trauma and Pathology Narratives; 2) Differential Diagnostic Decisions 3) Differential Treatment; 4) Job Focus 5) Stigma 6) Therapists Lack of Competence 7) Lack of Affordability and Availability of Services. After examining the current literature and the results of this study, a list of 16 sex work informed guidelines for mental health practice is presented

Sexual desire

The aim of this encyclopedia is to provide a comprehensive reference work on scientific and other scholarly research on the quality of life, including health-related quality of life research or also called patient-reported outcomes research. Since the 1960s two overlapping but fairly distinct research communities and traditions have developed concerning ideas about the quality of life, individually and collectively, one with a fairly narrow focus on health-related issues and one with a quite broad focus. In many ways, the central issues of these fields have roots extending to the observations and speculations of ancient philosophers, creating a continuous exploration by diverse explorers in diverse historic and cultural circumstances over several centuries of the qualities of human existence. What we have not had so far is a single, multidimensional reference work connecting the most salient and important contributions to the relevant fields. Entries are organized alphabetically and cover basic concepts, relatively well established facts, lawlike and causal relations, theories, methods, standardized tests, biographic entries on significant figures, organizational profiles, indicators and indexes of qualities of individuals and of communities of diverse sizes, including rural areas, towns, cities, counties, provinces, states, regions, countries and groups of countries

Why College Women and Men Refrain from Sex Despite Desire: Development of the No Sex Despite Desire (NSDD) Measure

Humans have sex for myriad reasons, many unrelated to desire. But under what conditions does sexual desire not lead to sex? We investigated reasons college students refrain from sex despite desire and having an attractive, willing partner and relationships between these reasons and other aspects of sexuality and personality. For item generation, 604 participants identified 109 reasons why individuals may refrain from sex despite desire. For construct validation, 712 participants reported the frequency they experienced these reasons on a novel measure. Every reason evidencing discernible gender differences was endorsed more by women. These items largely concentrated in factors of Personal Insecurities and Principled Concerns. No gender differences emerged on the Partner Issues factor. Factors differentially related to sexuality and personality variables. Principled Concerns related negatively to sociosexual behavior and attitudes and positively to sexual traditionalism across genders. Partner Issues positively correlated with sociosexual behavior and desire for women. Personal Insecurities negatively correlated with sociosexual attitudes for men. Principled Concerns related to sexual functioning issues for women. Personal Insecurities and Principled Concerns related to worse sexual functioning for men. Personal Insecurities related to Neuroticism across genders. These results suggest potential directions for therapeutic interventions and further research

Platelet gel is highly effective in treating muco-cutaneous lesions related to graft-versus-host disease

Background: Platelet (PLT) gel has been successfully used in tissue regeneration of diabetic/surgical wounds through the releasing of growth factors such as bFGF and PDGF. There- fore, the PLT gel could represent a therapeutic tool in treating the deep and painful wounds occurring during Graft-versus- Host Disease (GVHD). Objective: The aim of this study was to verify the efficacy and safety of PLT gel for treating muco-cutaneous GVHD ulcers. Allogeneic hemocomponents were used to obtain PLT gel with Vivostat System. Ten patients with multiple lesions involving dermis (grade I, n=2), subcutaneous or oral mucosa (grade II, n=8) related to acute or chronic GVHD, underwent PLT gel as local therapy. Results: After the second PLT gel application, the pain disap- peared in all cases and the granulation tissue was observed in all patients with grade II lesions. After a median of 6.5 PLT gel applications (range, 1-12), 9 of 10 patients riched a complete response, while 1 patient showed a partial response at time of death because of multi-organ failure. No side effect was docu- mented. Conclusion: These results confirm our previous data mainly related to the treatment of GVHD skin wounds, hampering the use of PLT gel as effective tool also in the management of oral mucosa lesions frequently associated with chronic GVHD